


The Tale of Brandon

by Nary



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Epic, Folklore, Gen, Historical, Legends, Poetry, Warging, alliterative verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-07
Updated: 2011-05-07
Packaged: 2017-10-19 03:11:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/196231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nary/pseuds/Nary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hear now of Brandon / braver than Winter...</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Tale of Brandon

Hear now of Brandon / braver than Winter  
Father of all Starks / the canny stone-stacker  
Who crafted the Wall / with cunning and skill  
In his earliest days / at great Durran's side  
He ended the storms / that struck down each castle  
The wrath of the gods / for fair Elenai's ruin  
Six strongholds fell / but the seventh was stronger  
Build with the warnings / of young Brandon's wit  
And the aid of the Children / the ancients of old  
Whose runes wrought their magics / on rock and on rainstorm  
Young Brandon listened / and learned from their words  
But Durran the Storm King / cast them aside  
Waged war on the old gods / and would not be warned  
Affronted, they fled / and young Brandon followed  
Into the Neck / the narrows and northwards  
He lived there among them / learning their ways  
Singing to nameless gods / song-prayers and secrets  
He grew there to manhood / great was his might  
Wealthy in wisdom / he wore his wit lightly  
Northways he traveled / treading the long road  
To the land of the wildlings / the last of the wanderers  
Jarl there was Joramun /strong arm of justice  
Who held in his hand / the great horn of Winter  
Banded with irons / all burnished so brightly  
Whose shattering call / shook the bones of the earth  
Fair was his daughter / the maid all in furs  
Brandon desired her / brought her love-tokens  
But the girl scorned him / scowled at his smiles  
She never would wed one / who could not out-wit her  
Out-fight her and woo her / with force of his arms  
Brandon beseeched her / but she was obstinate  
She would not stay with him / unless he stole her  
Away from her father / the fierce lord of wildlings  
Long he considered / and used all his cunning  
Then called for a hawk / and brought his hounds to heel  
Ventured out hunting / that very day  
Seeking the one they name / world-shaker, winter's horse  
Hunting the mammoth / the mightiest of beasts  
Twelve men would stalk it / trick it with traps  
Lure it to cliff-edge / to clefts in the mountain  
And tumble it over / to turbulent death  
But Brandon went alone / to hunt one most boldly  
Despite all the wildlings / who warned him of danger  
Long did he search / in the stark, silent snow  
Far into the Frostfangs / along the Frozen Shore  
For the footprints the span / of five hands together  
Until his hounds faltered / and hawk flew away  
Finally, near frozen / he found the fell herd  
Far down in a valley. /From his high vantage,  
He drew himself up / and dropped down upon one  
Clutching the broad back / though the beast bellowed  
Knotted his fists / in the gnarls of its fur  
Binding himself / to the back of the mammoth  
Then with the skill of / a forest skin-dancer  
Slid his mind into / the mind of the mightiest  
Saw through its eyes / and settled its feet  
Empty his soul-shell / hung safe and suspended  
Across the strong shoulders / of his new steed  
Then journeyed the strange pair / to Joramun's hall  
There he lifted himself / body light as a feather  
Down from the back / of his new beast of burden  
And laid himself softly / in the deep snow  
Hid his body from sight / Hoping for its safety  
Then turned on the hall / and the glow of its hearth-light  
Trampled the door down / and made the walls tremble  
Sought there the spear-maid / the spouse he desired  
The wildling lord's warriors / wounded the skin-walker  
Pierced him with arrows / and spears sharp with anger  
Fierce was the fighting / but fighters grew fearful  
For the beast acted oddly / not as it ought to  
Behind the beast's eyes / Brandon also was anxious  
For the sake of his true-self / left still in the snow  
Then came forth the spear-maid / fearless and fair  
Steady before him / she stood in the hall  
Her hand on the haft / of her heaviest weapon  
Before she could cast it / he clasped his trunk round her  
And cast her out quick / to the cold and the dark  
The point of her spear / pierced his eye deeply  
So roaring with pain / he returned to his body  
And stood there before her / stiff from the frost  
Inside her father's hall / fierce was the battle  
But outside she clasped / Brandon close in her arms  
Together they fled / feet flying fleetly  
Away from her home / and the comforts of hearth  
They came to the Heart-tree / and build there a holdfast  
Swore there their love / with the stars as their witness  
Years melted like snowflakes / and she bore him younglings  
A handful of lads / and one lovely lass  
As fair as the summer / so splendid was she  
Then fell the Long Night / the last light soon faded  
And out of the North / poured Others unnumbered  
Mounted on snow-spiders /scurrying on swift legs  
Carrying with them / the white cold of Winter  
Skin white and frozen / like stone would not shatter  
Beneath the strong blows / of blades by the hundred  
Frosted those swords / with their swift-freezing fingers  
Blue glow of ghost-light / gleamed in the night  
Not a clean death / for those cleft by their blades  
But thralldom undying / before Winter's throne  
Mounted on beasts / as dead as their masters  
Skin taut to bone / or torn wide and gaping  
Eyes like blue stars / staring at nothing  
Deaths beyond number / they bought with their blades  
But certain girl-children / they carried away  
Brandon's sweet daughter / they swept up and vanished  
He swore on his sword / he would save her from them  
Then Brandon, beset with grief / begged of his elders  
The dark forest's children / the old gods' first chosen,  
A boon that would be / the bane of the ice-walkers  
The wood-witches huddled / cast runes on the wind  
Sought wisdom in twigs / as they twisted in water  
Then grave grew the / greenseers, wisest of all,  
And whispered their wisdom /wound tightly with warnings  
They showed him the spells / he could spin against Winter  
And gave to him blades / of the blackest glass  
Sharp as a splinter / these shards that he carried  
One hundred knives / new-crafted and gleaming  
But none there could reckon / the cost he risked paying  
From their grove he departed /grown desperate with rage  
And the greenseers / grieved for his loss as they  
Watched through their / weirwoods and wept  
Then north rode the Warden / a war there to wage  
His spear-wife stood with him / strong in her wrath  
And slowly but surely / soldiers they gathered  
Men who had lost / all that made life worth living  
Their wives and their wains / vanished with the white-walkers  
Sons laid in the lichyard / but living once more  
In a mockery of life / limping onward forever  
These brothers in mourning / bravely joined Brandon  
Clad all in black / with their blades at their sides  
Battled their way / beating back where they could  
But never enough / to know victory was near  
For their foe were too many / the northmen too few  
Then Brandon's wife / beseeched her brave father  
And kinsmen to join them / and kill there together  
Forgiveness was granted / reluctant and grudging  
And wildlings and Warden / waged war side-by-side  
Joramun hefted / his horn to his lips  
And blew on it bravely. /Its blast shattered ice  
And woke from the earth's / womb the earliest giants  
A second call sounded /and set them to slaying  
Laying wights low / with their weighty fists  
And with the third wind / the white-walkers trembled  
Then Brandon drew /his daggers of dragonglass  
With one clasped in each fist / he strode into the fray  
As each sharp shard struck / and shattered to pieces  
His enemies melted / like snow in the morn  
Before him they fled / so fierce was his face  
Blue on the white snow / flowed their pale blood  
Nine-and-ninety he slew / and wights beyond number  
But then came the hundredth / and kill her he could not  
His only dear daughter / her eyes blue as diamonds  
Stood there before him / and smiled so sweetly  
She held out her hand / hope flared fast within him  
But cruelly she clasped him / close to cold skin  
Her fingers left burns / like the bite of the frost  
Her face was like summer / so suddenly frozen  
His dagger dropped useless /down to the snow  
As in her embrace / his anger waned  
In slow surrender / to a sleep eternal  
Then her sharp scream / shattered the silence  
His wife stood beside him / her spear tipped with fire  
And drove back their daughter / to cold and to darkness  
Tears froze on their faces / as fast they retreated  
Knowing they would / never see her again  
Then Brandon, bereft / brought forth a new plan  
A wall he would build / to hold back the Winter  
With Joramun's horn / to call aid from the giants  
The great stones were laid / from one sea to the other  
And Brandon the sorcerer / spun subtle spells  
Wove into its weight / wards against wights  
And creatures of evil / so they could not pass  
He froze to the bone /fingers near splintered  
Raising the ice-stone / in a race against ruin  
To drive back the darkness / of Summer's deep death  
Then up rose the wall / as wide as a king's road  
As tall as a tower / too treacherous to climb  
And fortresses too / he fashioned along it  
To station the ones / who would watch in the night  
Then home to his wife / who was patiently waiting  
And his sons who stood by him / so strong and so bold  
And raised Winterfell's walls / warm against winds  
Veined them with water / to keep out the visions  
Of his child's cold smile / and the chill of her touch


End file.
